Biden Delivers Remarks at Final Session of APEC Summit

Your Excellencies, the President of the United States.

Hello, everyone. We are going to extend this conference another five days. That’s okay.

(00:47)
Welcome to the final APEC Leaders session. Over the last few days we’ve worked together, and I think that’s not hyperbole. We’ve worked together to find ways to building inclusive, resilient and sustainable economies for the Asia Pacific. We talked about the progress that requires partnership. Together we laid out the work we’ll be undertaking to avert the worst impacts of the climate crisis. The U.S. companies have announced more than $500 billion of investments into APEC economies to build new subsea cables, decarbonize energy grids, and complete the largest U.S. airline expansion into the South Pacific in our history.

(01:37)
Alongside 13 of our APEC partners, we also made historic progress yesterday with the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, with the first-of-its-kind agreements to strengthen supply chains, accelerate our clean energy transition, and combat corruption. As we begin our discussions today, I want to highlight a few areas that I believe we can do even more, in my view.

(02:02)
First, inclusive growth. When everyone in our economies has a chance to contribute, everyone gets a fair shot, we all do better. Today I’m proud to announce that we’ve launched a Women in the Sustainable Economy initiative. Partners in this initiative have already pledged more than $900 million to increase women’s participation in blue and green industries like forest management, clean energy, fisheries and recycling. If you wonder why I’m so enthusiastic about this, I’ve got more women in my cabinet than men, so I’ve got to get this straight.

(02:42)
All kidding aside, I think this is a very important initiative, including by creating the first-ever facility dedicated to helping women and women-led businesses and organizations in developing countries to gain access to climate finance. We’re also supporting programs that expand access to STEM education, to address laws that limit women’s equal access to land and natural resources, and we plan to invest in young women entrepreneurs in the maritime sector and to scale up these projects as well. I challenge us all to find new ways we can seize the full potential of all of our people.

(03:25)
Secondly, interconnected growth and technology. We’re going to see more technological change in the next 10 years than we’ve seen in the last 50 years, and I don’t think that’s hyperbole. I think we’re going to see that changing so rapidly, and together we have to make sure it changes for the better. Matter of fact, Xi Jinping of China and I had a brief discussion about the impact of artificial intelligence and how we have to work on it. Together we must ensure the change is for the better. We must ensure that digital technologies like artificial intelligence are used to uplift, not limit the potential of our people.

(04:05)
That’s why earlier this summer, the United States brought together leading AI companies, who agreed to voluntary commitments to keep AI systems safe and trustworthy, including the following: Committing to independently test and secure the security of their AI systems before these systems are released into the public; two, committing to watermark content that is AI-generated, so people know it’s been generated by artificial intelligence; committing to prioritize and minimize the risk that AI systems compose to society like promoting bias or discrimination.

(04:45)
Just last month, I signed an executive order here in the States to set new AI standards for public and private sectors in the United States, such as requiring developers of the most powerful AI systems to share their safety test results with the U.S. government … this is the U.S. … strengthen technologies to protect our privacy, and preventing employers from using AI to exploit their workers. We’re also expanding grants for AI research in key areas like healthcare and climate change. That has great potential, but this is a shared challenge and requires shared solutions. I would respectfully suggest all of us around this table have a responsibility to work together to seize the opportunities and manage the risk of this technology, which is so critical to our collective economic futures.

(05:41)
Finally, as I said yesterday, America’s commitment to the Asia Pacific is unwavering and, in our view from America’s perspective, essential. I know President Boluarte shares this commitment, and I want you to know next year, the APEC Summit host Peru will help drive these economies forward. We’ll be hanging out in Peru. The views are going to be nice too. As we begin our discussion, I’d like to take a moment to pass the ceremonial torch from the United States to Peru. Madam President, thank you, and the floor is yours.

Thank you, Mr. President Biden. The leaders who are here, I would like to warmly greet every one of you. Next year, Peru will celebrate APEC 2024. We receive this responsibility quite seriously, but we also take on this commitment with the great affection that Peruvians have right here. It comes from our hearts. We will receive the 21 leading economies that are here. We’ll welcome you in our beloved Peru so that in 2024, we can continue to build on what APEC has been doing over so many years, promoting equity between men and women, empowering women in economic development with respect in society and politics, in employment.

(07:42)
We also want to encourage children and young people to be a part of this history that the leaders around this table here today share. We have worked on such an important issue, which is caring for our planet, which is the only home we have. I believe that the economies who are here today, the leaders here today, must take on this serious responsibility of continuing to work on this development and searching for a better way to care for our home, for Planet Earth.

(08:19)
We hope to see each and every one of you in Peru next year in Arequipa, in the Sacred Valley of the Incas in Urubamba, in the beautiful Springtime City of Trujillo, to the beautiful area of the Amazon in Pucallpa, and of course in our capital, Lima, Peru. There, all of you will honor us with your presence, and we will welcome you with the affection we always show. We will work together hand in hand, all of us, so that APEC next year shines with its own light, from our Imperial City of Cusco, our beloved Peru, out towards the world. We wish you a warm welcome next year, and we will welcome you there with our greatest affection. Thank you very much, President Biden.

Thank you, Madam President. We’re looking forward to that. I would now respectfully ask the press to leave, and I will soon turn it over to the International Monetary Fund.

At this time, we please ask the press to quietly depart.